


gold, in the end

by endlesshydrangea (bloominsummer)



Series: kiss me under the mistletoe 2020 [2]
Category: K-pop, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Established Relationship, M/M, Polyamory, beginning note for context :], they’re powerful royal council members who are in love with each other need i elaborate more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:20:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27903610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloominsummer/pseuds/endlesshydrangea
Summary: The answer resides in the bright glimmer of Soonyoung’s eyes, the short flash of surprise in them before Wonwoo bridges the distance and kisses him, soft and slow and performative for the other two men bearing witness to the act. Jihoon’s hand is still held tightly in his and Junhui’s entire world is right here in front of him.
Relationships: Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Jeon Wonwoo/Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi, Jeon Wonwoo/Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi/Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Jeon Wonwoo/Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Jeon Wonwoo/Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Lee Jihoon | Woozi/Wen Jun Hui | Jun
Series: kiss me under the mistletoe 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2042560
Comments: 9
Kudos: 78





	gold, in the end

**Author's Note:**

> written for anonymous under a free prompt! i love writing 96z from junhui’s point of view for some reason so here we are fellas.
> 
> fic is set in the same universe as [heavy lies the crown](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25742206), but can be read independently. i think. omg. 
> 
> if not then some background information ahead:
> 
> Seungcheol used to be a knight and Crown Prince Jeonghan's Captain of Guard until they marry, then his title becomes prince consort. Jeonghan is now king, as his father abdicated the throne to him shortly after Jeonghan's wedding to Seungcheol. Seungcheol retains his title after Jeonghan's coronation.

“They are tardy again,” Wonwoo notes, clucking his tongue in disapproval as he flips open his pocket watch, the silver hands cool against the navy-coloured dial. “This is rather concerning behaviour coming from a king.”

It ticks and ticks and ticks, and still neither of their country’s heads of state has shown up. Every week the Council gathers at the same time, in the same place, and every week without fail, their king and prince consort decide to play them for fools and make them waste precious time waiting for their arrival. 

Out of the four councilmen sitting around the high table, Junhui is the least concerned about their leaders' belatedness, possibly because he has nothing of consequence to report. Throughout King Jeonghan’s reign, the country has seen nothing but peace with its neighbouring kingdoms. That consequentially leaves Junhui, the leader of the armed forces, responsible for mere supervision of military training and simulations, and nothing more.

There simply aren’t any sieged castles to rescue, no lands to reclaim, zero battle plans to go over.

Life’s quite boring for him really, if not for—

Soonyoung tosses Wonwoo a serene smile from his seat, an attempt to soothe his mild vexation. In contrast to Junhui’s empty meeting agenda, he always has something to report. None of the other councilmen can guess what he has hidden up his ruffled sleeves until he’s laid out his findings on the table, sharing only what he deems is necessary for the moment.

Sometimes Junhui wishes to shake Soonyoung up just to see what secrets fall out of him, but King Jeonghan seems to appreciate Soonyoung’s choice of timing, and thus Junhui is inclined to abide by his rulings.

Wonwoo purposefully looks away from Soonyoung’s radiant stare. Junhui suppresses a chuckle, knowing fully well even a man carved out of stone would soften to clouds under Soonyoung’s prowess. The king’s advisor is far from being made of stone. Junhui would know.

“Let them be,” Jihoon speaks up finally, lifting his head from the pages of report strewn above the table. “We have all preparations for the Yule Ball set. Guests will start arriving at first light as planned, and I have personally checked that their accommodations are up to the royal standards. There is no matter on the docket that requires such great urgency, Wonwoo-yah.”

The treasurer stops for a moment, frowning upon realising that he might not be fully correct in his assumptions.

“Am I correct?” he asks Soonyoung, who just gives him the same smile he’s given Wonwoo before.

“It is not about that,” Wonwoo refutes him gently, “it is about enforcing an ugly habit in our leaders and ourselves, too. One of these days they may fail to make an appearance at a meeting because their lives are in danger, and we would think they are being deliberately untimely.”

Soonyoung giggles, a rather exultant sound considering the sour mood Wonwoo seems to be in. He throws a cursory glance in Junhui’s direction, though it lasts no more than half a second before his attention is fully back on Wonwoo’s face. In his own way he is asking for reinforcement, for the king's advisor is most easily pacified by a voice of reason. Junhui's just happens to be one of his favourites to listen to.

“You know they are busy coupling in the spirit of the holidays, Wonwoo.”

To his left, Jihoon makes a gagging sound.

“Must you use that term so lightly?”

“Which term?” How is Soonyoung not tired, smiling all the time, hiding his brilliance behind it? The disarming force that smile holds—Junhui’s entire inventory of weaponry does not have a tenth of Soonyoung’s power. “Coupling? Does that offend you?”

“It does not _offend_ me,” Jihoon says, looking offended, “it is simply not a word you should throw around in an official meeting.”

Junhui leans forward and rests his palm against the edge of the wooden table, choosing this exact moment to finally voice his interjection. “Please, do not encourage him.”

“Encourage him? Encourage him how?” asks Jihoon, curiosity shining through bright orbs.

“You say he should not throw around the term 'coupling'—” the youngest frowns at yet another repetition of the word “—in an _official_ meeting. That is as good as giving him permission to use it in any other setting.”

Silence befalls them at Junhui’s words. They look taken aback, especially Soonyoung, who Junhui imagines is far from being used to having his future told by another person. Jihoon turns to face Soonyoung, squinting his eyes at the master of secrets. And this right here is a magnificent study contrast: the open, vulnerable look Soonyoung willingly displays to Jihoon, stripping himself bare under the scrutiny.

“I wasn’t going to,” he says in his own defence, somewhat bashful.

“You were definitely going to,” Wonwoo chips in. “How much longer do you think we should wait?” he turns to ask Junhui, who simply shrugs.

“Why the impatience? Do you have someplace else to be?”

His gaze deepens, carrying meaning across the distance that separates them, and Junhui thinks back to their shared quarters, the warm bath that would await them at the end of the day. Incense burning in the brass brazier, filling the room with the scent of jasmine and frangipani. The heat of the bathwater, seeping into skin, then seeping into bones, washing away their fatigue.

Jihoon fakes a cough to break the silence, and Junhui brings his eyes away from Wonwoo to address him. Judging by the humble flush gracing his skin, Jihoon is thinking of the same thing Junhui is. He doesn’t favour the bath as much as Wonwoo does, often leaving earliest out of the four, Soonyoung quick to retrace his footsteps. They would be dry and dressed when Junhui eventually comes out with a sleeping Wonwoo in his arms, wrapped in a silk gown, dark hair still dripping from the tips.

Once, Soonyoung told him that it is trust in its most genuine form, for someone to visit the land of dreams surrounded by the sweet mist of the royal baths and putting faith in the person they are with not to let them drown. Junhui merely replied that it was no different to a person who leaves the room without looking back, knowing the one whose heart is tethered to their own would follow them unconditionally.

He still remembers Soonyoung’s kiss from that day, as sweet as the mist he had referred to. His lips tingle with the recollection and Junhui’s resolve begins to crumble at his desire of repeating such wondrous performance. Jihoon tilts his head to the right, assessing him carefully to read Junhui’s thoughts from the lines of his face.

Jihoon succeeds, of course.

Practice makes perfect after all, and the treasurer is nothing if not tenacious in all things he’s put his mind to.

“Another minute,” Jihoon says eventually, deciding for all of them. “Then we should excuse ourselves.”

Junhui has no problem with that, and neither does Soonyoung, but Wonwoo’s immediate reaction to practically anything is to challenge its legitimacy, so he’s the one who says, “I can not recall if any of the royal decrees state that we are allowed to leave before they send word.”

“But you were the one who asked how much longer we should wait?” Soonyoung points out, innocent.

“I was inquiring how much longer before we send a guard to check on their whereabouts, not before we return to…” Wonwoo trails off, catching himself about to mention something he shouldn’t. “Tending to other matters,” he finishes meekly.

Incredulous, Jihoon’s eyebrows are raised halfway to his forehead. It would have been a rather comical look on anyone else, but much to Junhui's disadvantage, Jihoon's attractiveness is a curse unbroken by time or situation. The treasurer opens his mouth and is about to say something in return when the four of them hear footsteps approaching the Council room. Two sets of footsteps, to be exact.

The one with the heavier padding, his gait seems to be rather hurried; this Junhui immediately registers as belonging to their prince consort. The other walks at a more leisurely pace, saying words in a hushed voice meant to placate his husband’s concerns.

The door opens and Junhui rises from his seat, Wonwoo’s already bowing towards their king before the general can even move back his chair, his form nothing short of perfect. Soonyoung is winking in Seungcheol’s direction, which causes the prince consort to award him with a warning glare in return. He giggles before bowing as a show of respect.

“You may be seated,” King Jeonghan says. He then proceeds not to take a seat himself, and Soonyoung’s subsequent remark to that is something he invited upon himself, if Junhui is allowed to be honest.

“And will _you_ be seated, Your Majesty?” he questions Jeonghan. “Or did Your Royal Highness—”

“Finishing that sentence also means finishing your term of service, Councillor Kwon.”

 _Ouch_ , Junhui thinks. The comment must have hit right where it hurts, so to speak. Prince Seungcheol’s face does nothing to mask his crippling embarrassment, though he does manage to shoot Soonyoung yet another warning look that appears to bounce off his impenetrable shield of faux-ignorance.

“I will make this short,” the king begins, hands curled around the top rail of his high chair. Next to him, Prince Consort Seungcheol changes his stance—assuming the defensive posture that had been instilled in him during the years he spent training to be the captain to the then crown prince’s guard. Junhui wonders what Jeonghan has to say that would require Seungcheol’s defending, until he utters his intention, “It is regarding my Yule present for my husband."

He tunes into the conversation far more now, because it is likely the king would want a military parade to honour the prince consort. If that is the case, it will fall under Junhui's responsibility.

But then Jeonghan says, no, _declares_ , "I wish to make Seungcheol a king.”

It is foolish to tell a king who has done things his predecessors never even thought of that he can not achieve the goal he has in mind, so Wonwoo doesn’t. Instead, he straightens his back and mulls over the proposition.

“That is an unprecedented act.”

It is.

“The country’s always benefited from a single individual wearing the golden crown.”

It has.

“Look at my husband, Councillor Jeon.” Wonwoo hesitates for a split second, then turns his gaze in Seungcheol’s direction as he is bid. “What do you see?”

“The Prince Consort.”

“That is a title,” Jeonghan tells him. It’s not an admonishment, but Junhui feels as though it was one. “I asked you what you can see, and you can not see a man's title.”

Wonwoo nods in understanding before he corrects himself. “I see an honourable man, Your Majesty.”

For his effort Jeonghan allows him a satisfactory nod, then he follows through with his words of keeping their meeting short.

“A man whose insights this country has benefited from many times before, and no doubt will again,” he iterates his key point, using Wonwoo’s own statement against him. “A man without whose companion, I will not be able to bear the burden of ruling. A man who’s been reduced to wearing pyrite around his head instead of pure gold because of obsolete jurisprudences.”

Seungcheol takes no shame in that truth. If anything, he lifts his head higher at Jeonghan's words. Junhui will not pretend like he knows the weight of wearing a crown, no matter what material it’s made of, but credit should be given where credit is due. Many men are prophesied for greatness simply because of their lineage, and yet Seungcheol, an orphan from the streets, has worn his sovereignty ten times better than any of them ever would.

“He does have a point,” Soonyoung sides with their king, “if he had taken a woman—”

“If I had taken a woman, she’d be queen.”

It’s the way Jeonghan highlights the shortcoming in their law, with his tone as sharp and resolute as ever, that makes Junhui understand where things stand at the moment. Any further arguments on the topic would be futile, for the young king’s mind has already been made up. The only person who stands a chance of dissuading Jeonghan walking down this path appears to be in lockstep with him.

“The law might have allowed our marriage but it continues to impose sanctions on our union.”

“Fool’s gold,” Jihoon mumbles absentmindedly, making the attention of the entire room shifts toward him. “It's what they called pyrite in layperson’s term. Fool’s gold, because it has the same colour and metallic lustre as the genuine thing, but it is much more brittle. It will break where gold bends.”

“Precisely. And does your prince consort looks like he’d be the type to break?”

“No,” answers Junhui, filling in for Jihoon. “He is not. It can be done.”

“It _will_ be done,” Jeonghan corrects him.

“It will be done,” Wonwoo echoes. “I will see to it.”

“Then I consider the matter resolved.”

He turns around, his royal gown sweeping the air as he does so, and Seungcheol smiles at Wonwoo in gratitude before he too moves to make his leave.

“The people love the prince,” Soonyoung suddenly pipes in, just as the king and the prince consort are about to turn around the corner and down the hallway. “They carry his name in their prayers alongside the king’s own. In the unlikely case that you are worried about how your subjects might react to this decision, I wish to spare you the time.”

Soonyoung says _unlikely_ but Junhui knows Seungcheol would have worried otherwise. He may show a united front now, would never betray Jeonghan's confidence by raising his objection in court with his council members as an audience, but who knows what uncertainties he might express within the confines of their private chambers?

“Thank you, Councillor Kwon,” it’s Seungcheol speaking for the both of them this time. “Your consideration for the state of our hearts is commendable.”

They’re gone just as quickly as they had come and Wonwoo slumps back into the soft cushion of his chair. “I feel a headache coming.”

“The bath will do you plenty good then,” Soonyoung stands up from his seat and walks around the table to stand next to Wonwoo. He runs his fingers through the advisor’s kept hair, the gesture entirely affectionate in its nature. “Let’s?”

“A wise man once says,” Junhui comes to Wonwoo’s other side, waiting for Jihoon to join them, “if you don’t value love as much as life itself—”

Jihoon extends a hand in front of Wonwoo, which the advisor takes with a smile, and without a moment’s hesitation.

“Then perhaps even real gold is fool’s gold in the end.”

“Oh!” Soonyoung exclaims breathily. “I think I’ve heard that one before.”

“Is there _anything_ you haven’t heard?”

The answer resides in the bright glimmer of Soonyoung’s eyes, the short flash of surprise in them before Wonwoo bridges the distance and kisses him, soft and slow and performative for the other two men bearing witness to the act. Jihoon’s hand is still held tightly in his and Junhui’s entire world is right here in front of him.

“Bath?” Wonwoo asks when he pulls away, Soonyoung still in a daze from having been kissed without warning.

“Bath,” Jihoon wholeheartedly agrees with Wonwoo, despite being the one who enjoys the activity the least. “Coming?” he throws the question to Junhui without looking back at him, already guiding Wonwoo out of the room.

“Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> if it was rather unclear:  
> junhui: head of the military/minister of defence  
> soonyoung: minister of home & foreign affairs. i guess when i wrote him in i had in mind that he’s equivalent to varys (?) / master of whisperer. minus the.. castration.  
> wonwoo: prime minister/royal advisor/“hand of the king”.  
> jihoon: treasurer/minister of economy, trade, & industries.
> 
> oh yes, i do watch game of thrones. no, i don’t want to discuss the terrible ending.
> 
> oh!! and if you watch the crown (season 4), one of the scenes here is taken from there ^^
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/blminsmmr/status/1342825034071490561?s=21) | [cc](https://curiouscat.me/bloominsummer/)


End file.
